I did not become an engineer because I was a feminist. I became a feminist because I am an engineer. I didn’t start out interested in, or even aware of, the whole “women in STEM” issue. I found it when I got here.

I became an engineer because it was the natural choice for a kid who was interested in math and science, and it never occurred to me not to become an engineer just because I was female. In some ways I was extremely lucky—growing up with a father who worked in a technology company was a bonus, and he helped set me up with mentors from an early…